Clinton: Shutdown shows ‘scorched earth’ politics

CLINTON, N.Y. (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton says the partial government shutdown is emblematic of too many people in politics choosing “scorched earth over common ground.”

In a speech tonight at Hamilton College in upstate New York, the former senator and secretary of state said that it’s difficult to recall a time when politicians were willing to risk, in her words, “so much damage to the country to pursue their own agendas.”

Clinton notes that the government shutdown forced President Barack Obama to cancel his trip to an Asian summit. She says countries like Russia and China plan to attend, but, quote, “we’re not there.”

She says when her husband, former President Bill Clinton, worked with Republicans during shutdowns in the mid-1990s, neither side got everything it wanted but still balanced the budget.